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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-01-08 Recreation Committee MinutesV FAX: (781) 942 - 5441 Town of Reading 16 Lowell Street EC Reading, MA 01867-2685 TOWN `~~CLERK LAD ' G MHSS. 2593 FES 20 A 10: 4 ~ RECREATION DIVISION: (781) 942 - 9075 Recreation Committee Minutes January 8, 2003 Attendance: John Feudo, Recreation Administrator Jack Downing, Recreation Committee Chairperson Susan Fay, Dave Bryant, Christopher Campbell, Alan Beaulieu, Claire Bolger, Mary Ellen Stolecki, Kate Kaminer, Bernie Winne Jack Downing called the meeting to order at 7:38 PM and asked the committee to review the minutes of the December meeting. The Recreation Committee briefly discussed the status of the Travel Basketball 7th Grade Boys "B" Program. Chris Campbell spoke on behalf of his team stating that they weren't very successful getting anymore games and the currently had only played two games. Chris went on to state that there were a couple of "bad apples" in the bunch and it was really bringing the rest of the group down. Kate Kaminer entered the meeting at 7:44 J. Feudo suggested that he had spoken to a couple of other towns in the Middlesex area and found that some were interested in starting a "B" League for next season. J. Feudo went on to discuss the possibility of moving Sunday Basketball up a few weeks and have all the kids go through a skill evaluation with the High School Coaches running the clinic. The Recreation Corntnittee seemed to be in favor of the idea. D. Bryant suggested having a sign-up day for Sunday and Travel and then having an end date in which no more registrations would be taken. He feltzthat would eliminate what had occurred this year. J. Downing interjected and stated that the group needed to accept the agenda before we moved forward and we could add Travel Basketball to the current agenda. D. Bryant made a motion to accept the minutes from Dec. S. Fay seconded the motion. Motion passes in favor of accepting the minutes 6-0. The Rec. Committee continued discussion about moving Travel Basketball Tryouts with Sunday Basketball Skill Evaluation day. J. Downing mentioned that there might be an issue with kids that play Pop Warner football, that play basketball as well. 4 RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES, JAN. 8, 2003 Continued J. Feudo asked the Rec. Committee why Sunday Basketball was not mandatory for Travel players. The consensus was that it just has evolved that way over the years. J. Feudo suggested that it again become mandatory for everyone to do both Travel and Sunday. Citing that the travel Basketball "B" squads as the reason Sunday Basketball Numbers were down. K. Kaminer felt that it should not be mandatory. A. Beaulieu interjected that the consensus from the parents at Sunday Basketball for pictures was "no". The idea of having one Registration form was discussed by the committee. Players would note on their registration form whether or not they wanted to be considered for travel and give a brief playing history. C. Bolger had a question of how the fees were arrived at. J. Feudo explained to his knowledge the fees were based on several factors, Gym Space, Referees, League Dues and Supplies. C. Campbell talked about how the Reading "A" teams were really "B" team but had to play "A" caliber teams week in and week out. C. Campbell used the example of Reading vs. Melrose where Reading was defeated by a large amount. ' A. Beaulieu said he liked the idea of having a two week evaluation at Sunday Basketball and having the coaches not involved in picking teams. K. Kaminer felt that it would take away the coaches discretion in terms of personality conflicts. C. Campbell agreed. Bernie Winne entered the meeting at 8:04. J. Feudo briefly filled in B. Winne on the situation being discussed. B. Winne felt that whole process would need to move up a few weeks to pull off a two-week evaluation. He went on to talk about setting up a league with teams like Winchester, Lexington and setting up a "B" league with 6-8 teams. No further discussion was made on the topic. FIELD USAGE FEES J. Downing next asked to discuss the topic of field use. The Recreation Administrator appealed to the Rec. Committee for some guidance on setting a per use rate, instead of the former per game rate, to help make field users fees a little more equitable. RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES, JAN. 8, 2003 Continued A.Beaulieu thought the per hour rate was a good idea because a group like Pop Warner does not use the Town fields for games, therefore never needed to pay. M. Stolecki agreed. B. Winne asked if the goal was to be revenue neutral or to make more money on the fields. J. Downing thought that in the past it was to be revenue neutral. K. Kaminer thought there should be a cost analysis done to see what other towns were doing. S. Fay asked if there was a way to figure out what it actually costs DPW to maintain the fields. B.Winne stated that collecting fees for the use of Field X could create potential problems, but liked the idea of the per hour rate because it would prevent organizations from over booking space. B. Winne went on to suggest going to a flat rate per organization based on number of participants. D. Bryant liked the idea of a flat rate and stated to leave it up to the groups to divide out the space. M. Stolecki thought there were some groups that would not give the correct number of participants on their rosters. J. Downing suggested moving to a 3 dollar per hour fee, but until the Rec. Administrator was able to see if it was even.feasible he should just move on with the process. Also, to in the letter to organizations that the Rec. Committee was investigating a per hour rate, but it would not increase more than 15%. RECREATION ADMINISTRATOR SEARCH A: Beaulieu congratulated Rec. Administrator John Feudo and also thanked Claire Bolger and Mary Ellen Stolecki for their hard work serving on the search committee. J. Feudo thanked the committee for all the support they gave him over the past month and said he would begin the search process for the Program Coordinator role immediately. J. Feudo asked the Rec. Committee for a volunteer to serve on the search Committee. J. Downing expressed interest and said lie would like to do it. SKY HAWKS J. Feudo discussed the possibility of bringing in a group called Sky Hawks to run a LaCrosse and Flag Football camp for the Summer. B. Winne suggested that J. Feudo speak to Charles Hardy before he moves forward with lacrosse. A. Beaulieu agreed with B. Winne and stated that he thought the Flag Football Camp was a good idea. RECREATION COMMITTEE MINUTES, JAN. 8, 2003 Continued CAMP FEE J. Feudo talked about increasing fees for the Summer Camps due to the increase in pool rental. Also, camp will be moving to a weekly basis instead of bi-weekly to accommodate more family schedules. B. Winne suggested $100 for the 1St week and $90 for each additional week. Also suggested a package deal of if you purchase 6 weeks you would get the 7th for free. Rec. Committee seemed to agree for the most part. J. Downing suggested $95 per week and have a 20% reduction for the first week due to 4th of July. A. Beaulieu suggested a rate of $70 for the 1St week and $65 for the 2nd week. D. Bryant made a motion for the Rec. Administrator to come up with a total summer cost, . incorporating a free week for Regular Summer Camp and Junior Camp. B. Winne seconded the motion. Motion passed 7 - 0 in favor of setting a package deal in which registrants would receive the final week of camp free with the purchase of the summer package. D.Bryant brought up the issue of allowing College students use a college I.D. to get a dollar of the registration fee for open gym. That would be a three-dollar charge for college students. The Recreation Committee seemed to agree and did not believe the motion needed to be voted on. J. Feudo handed out the participation reports for the month of December. Committee Reports Skate Board Park- J. Downing mentioned that he had a computer issue and would update the Recreation Committee next month. Aquatics Advisory Committee- No Report J. Downing reminded the Rec. Committee that there would a Board of Selectman public hearing on Sunday Morning Permits on Tues, January 14th at 8:45 PM at Coolidge Middle School. C. Bryant made a motion to adjourn the meeting. B. Winne seconded the motion. J. Downing called to a vote. Motion passed in favor of ending the meeting 7 - 0. The meeting adjourned at 10:38 PM. Respectfully ittedBy: Fe o